Thursday, June 23, 2011

This Spring we discovered a local hydroponic u-pick farm, First Fruits. The farm is just a few neighborhoods over from ours, right in the middle of the most densely populated county in Florida. We couldn't believe our luck and took advantage by picking produce there nearly every weekend! My Elle talked endlessly about how much fun picking was and how she thought that her friends would like it too. I knew it would be a great experience for the kiddos, something the parents could get excited about too, and would be an opportunity for us to support locally grown food, which we've always been advocates of. So of course a birthday party came to mind, but my Elle turns 6 in October when the farm is closed... so celebrating the end of the school year was as much of an excuse as we needed!

I wanted an organic/natural feel for the party and the invites rethink ink made for me with hand drawn illustrations, craft paper envelopes, and seed catalog liners set the tone perfectly!

Since we would be in the Florida sun for the entire party, I decided to host it in the morning, which made for a little cooler day and a kid friendly breakfast menu. The decor for the kid's sit down breakfast was my favorite part of the party! I set up two 6' kids tables under a tent, over turned plant pots as stools in alternating green & yellow, a vintage seed packet banner strung along one long side of the tent, & a gathered burlap and lace garland along the other (tutorials on each of those to come!). One short side of the tent was closed off by a "wall" of kid sized gardening aprons I made for each of our guests, hung on twine clotheslines with little name tags attached with the cutest miniature clothespins.

The tables were covered in burlap, with a row of vintage doilies down the center (I bought the doilies from Our Attic on Etsy and realized when I received the package in the mail that they're local!). I picked up the green and yellow square plates and the watering cans we used as water pitchers at Ikea. I found the glass jars with the metal latch lids for apple sauce at Goodwill, along with the silverware spoons I used at each place setting, and the parfait glasses I filled with whipped cream.

Also on the tables were vegetable cans re-labeled with vintage can labels and filled with pretty white flowers I stole picked from a tree on the property next to the farm, a burlap lined basket I found at Home Goods, and old fashioned wooden berry baskets I bought from Sugar Camp Cottage on Etsy.

Each place setting consisted of: a place mat that was really just pretty yellow ticking I found at Jay's Fabrics and cut with pinking sheers. The square Ikea plates. A real spoon (not to be confused with a plastic party ware spoon). A canning jar with a bit of twine & a green stripe paper straw from Isa Kay Boutique. A scallop edge napkin I bought at an online party retailer. A galvanized berry bucket I picked up at the dollar bin in Target, personalized with the custom vinyl decals Lime Tree Gifts made me, and lined with green gingham fabric I cut with pinking sheers. And last but not least, the adorable Martha Stewart project - chocolate pudding, Oreo "dirt", mint leaf "plants"... I love me some Martha! I added a wood spoon/plant stake I stamped with "yummy"

The menu consisted of blueberry (picked from the farm of course!) muffins, apple sauce, fresh berries and whipped cream, and pudding "plants". I did a separate table for the parents with bagels, coffee, OJ, and fresh berries. My favorite project for the party has got to be the coffee sleeves I made "Keep Calm and Buy Local"!

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After everyone ate breakfast, Shelly, First Fruits' owner extraordinaire (along with her darling husband Jeff & super sweet and especially helpful children), told all the kiddos what was growing on the farm that day and what to look for when they were picking. Elle gave each of her friends the aprons she had chosen for them, a pair of kiddie scissors, and they all set out into the farm with their berry buckets to pick.

While everyone was picking, I cleared the table and re-set it for strawberry shortcake making. When the kids came back in from picking, they found 4 strawberries, a strawberry huller (I found those good ol' fashion metal squeezy ones at Montessory Services), and a bowl with a slice of pound cake at their place setting. They hulled the strawberries, cut them with a strawberry slicer I borrowed from a friend, and topped it with whipped cream.

While the kiddos were making their strawberry shortcake I bagged the produce they had picked in Ziploc bags, and tied it with the gingham liners before sticking it back in their personalized bucket. They each went home with their bucket of pickin's, a strawberry huller, their gardening apron, and an envelope of these adorable paper craft gnomes (a boy gnome for the boys and a girl gnome for the girls) to make at home.

can you even get over how stinkin' cute these are?! I was literally... I'm serious about this... jumping for joy when I found this set in the Fantastic Toys shop! My very patient and precise husband cut, folded, and glued these for the party so everyone could see just how adorable they are... yes I am that lucky... a good Daddy a sweet husband and he can craft too!

At this age, the parents are just as much part of the party as the kids though and I didn't want to leave them out, so I sent them home with a quilted mason jar of fruit dip, topped with handmade labels with little felt strawberries that Mud & Twig made, and a wooden spoon stamped with "thanks" tied on with twine.

It was such a fun day and I owe a great big giant thanks to lots and lots of people! I linked to a bunch of them above, please please take some time to check out these wonderful vendors! I put tons of effort into hunting down. And also my amazing photographer, Dawn of Elemental Image... I'll never stop talking about how worth every penny it is to have someone capture the special moments of the party and all your hard work! Having Dawn there let's me focus on being a good hostess and having a great time with my family, which despite how wrapped up in the details I get, is actually the point of the party! I also know just how valuable having someone to bounce ideas off during the planning process is... my good friend Karie never acted like my incessant questions about the most minute details were ridiculous (despite what she may have been thinking ;)), was a huge help the morning of the party setting everything up (along with my Aunt & Shelly's daughter, Kelly), and did so much to help make that day run smoothly. Thank you all for being patient with me, making my vision a reality, and not calling me out on being the party equivalent of a Bridezilla!!

My Elle's first year of "real school" was such a great experience and a fun milestone, I'm so glad we took the time to celebrate it!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

This is the 6th and final project to wrap up my roadtrip project series (who knew it was gonna be a series?! Not me! My 2 little ones inspire me and sometimes it's nice to just go with it!). I made this car caddy/organizer hanging thingie to store all the roadtrip goodies in. It was a fun project, I especially like the box pleats and working with decor weight fabric. It has a nylon strap to hang it around the head rest, and elastic holds it snug at the bottom.

I was really happy with how it turned out, but dissapointed when it was time to actually use it. The box pleats made the pockets too "opened" so they didn't want to hold things in nice and tight, and the pockets were kind of shallow for most of the things I wanted to store in them. It would probably work better if used on the front of the passanger seat to hold things when no one was sitting there, but that's kinda sad over all... that no one would be sitting in your passenger seat... so much so that you would put something in the seat that would be a pain to move out of the way if you did happen to bring a co-worker to lunch or say actually go on a date with your favorite person... just sayin'.

P.S. Do you see the little wooden sewing block in the bottom pocket? At one point in the trip I looked back and saw Liv "sewing" the blue cord in and out of the holes in her little wooden block and Elle working on her cross-stitch. It was so sweet... A sewing Mommy's dream come true :)

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The roadtrip project I have for you today is a simple but fun little project, pipe cleaner art! I picked up a bag of neon colored pipe cleaners and made a page of instructions (download a copy of the instructions by clicking on the link) on how to construct stick people, a pair of glasses, and a flower ring. The pipe cleaners ended up all over the car, but it was worth it because this easy little roadtrip project kept our 5 year old busy the longest!

It's time for Your Way Wednesday:

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to

Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Before I kick off this week's Your Way Wednesday, I wanted to point out a new button in my side bar, "Link Parties I <3" My list of favorite link parties was growing and growing, so I put them all in one spot so you can easily find and check them out. And the best part is that I made the list of link parties a link party! So if you host a link party on your blog, you can link it up on my parties page. Happy linking!﻿

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.

Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.

Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.

Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends

Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

I want to see your way! I'm really excited to give you an opportunity to do just that with a link party!

Only two rules for you:

Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to

Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

In exchange for following the rules, I'll leave a comment on your blog post & if you're my favorite post I'll feature you on my blog for my next Your Way Wednesday.

Monday, June 13, 2011

One of my very first Etsy purchases was an I Spy bag for Elle when she was a toddler. I'm sure you've seen these all over the handmade world... but have you ever seen one with photos?!

I love this idea for so many reasons! It's a lot of fun to watch everyone's reaction as faces, including their own, pop up through the window. It's also a great way to introduce your little one to family and friends that they don't get to see on a regular basis. And maybe my favorite; is that this little bag is like a tiny time capsule of everyone who is part of our family and what they look like at this precise moment in time!

Here’s how you can make one for your cutie!

You’ll need: two 9” squares of fleeceone 5” square of clear vinylpolly pellets (I got these at JoAnns)photos Laminate (I had a copy center do the lamination)

Make the bag by sewing the clear vinyl square onto the back center of one of the squares of fleece. Sewing over vinyl can be sticky; I put a piece of tissue paper under the foot. Cut the fleece away from the center of the vinyl. I cut it into an “X” and then used pinking shears to trim close to the stitches. Sew the fleece squares to each other right sides together, leave an opening to turn through.

Make the photos by stealing your friends and family’s photos off of FaceBook. In Picasa, crop the photos down to just be their faces. Using the grid option, create a collage out of all the pictures. Adjust the size of the photos by using the grid spacing slider bar. I wanted my photos to be double sided, so I printed two copies of the collage. Cut out each photo and adhere it to the matching photo back-to-back. Laminate the photos.

Finish the bag by turning it right side out, filling it half full with poly pellets, and tossing in the laminated photos. Sew the opening shut.

I’m looking forward to seeing Liv’s face as she discovers Mommy, Daddy, & Sissy in her I spy bag. Hopefully on the trip home she’ll recognize more of the family that she doesn’t get to see as often.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

How seriously cute are they?! Can you even stand it??? I can't! I bought this adorable set from Ms Katie's Art Studio. She has lots of sets to choose from. I picked the PDF file that is made to be colored in. I printed it off on regular copy paper, rough cut them, stuck them to these adhesive backed thin magnet sheets, and cut them out.

All the outfits are ready to be colored and played with. I wanted the doll to be a little more durable though, so I colored her with pencils & covered it with a piece of packing tape before sticking to the magnet. I can't wait to show my Elle, this should be good for at least an hour of play!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Okay so if automobile primer, chalkboard spray paint, industrial adhesive, and a couple hours of coat after coat of paint seem like a little too much effort for a kids lap desk a) you're probably right and b) I have a cheaper and way easier alternative to my magnetic chalkboard lap desk for you!

The only thing that will make my 1 year old actually keep a lap desk on her lap for any amount of time is seeing her sister with one. While I was picking up the cookie sheet at the Dollar Tree I saw these little plastic trays and matching placemats. I made this version of the lap desk in less than an hour and $5.50 in materials. Here how you do it.

All you need is a little tray, a placemat, a large and small bag of beans, hot glue, foam core, and super glue.

Follow the instructions for making the pillow (you can find them in my last post, here) and super glue it to the under side of the tray. That's it!

Friday, June 3, 2011

A lap-desk is pretty much an essential for kids on a road trip. I considered buying one, but decided I could design one with more features than what I could find already made... and for less money. I really couldn’t be happier with my version! It’s just right for a kid sized lap, the lip keeps pencils and crayons and whatever other little bits from rolling onto the floor, it’s magnetic (more on why that’s important in a future post!), the “pillow” is comfy and squishy enough to create a level table top, and the surface is chalkboard. Want to make one for your kiddo? You’re in luck, I put together a tutorial for you, with a video even!

You’re gonna need:

A small cookie sheet. It should be a cheap one… I got mine at Dollar Tree. Your life will be much easier if it’s not coated in anything.

Fabric a little bigger than your cookie sheet

Dried beans

Latex primer made specifically for metal – The guy I talked to at Home Depot recommended the automobile primer, so that’s what I used.

Sanding block

Chalkboard spray paint

Industrial strength glue

Foam core, matt board, or some other stiff but cuttable material

hotglue

Prepare your cookie sheet

This seems like a lot of steps, but if you don’t do them all the paint will chip/flake off (trust me on this one!).

wash the cookie sheet with hot soapy water

sand the entire surface (top, bottom, & sides) with a sanding block

wash it again and dry it completely

paint the top, sides, and the edges of the bottom with the metal primer & let dry

lightly sand the entire surfacespray the top, sides, and the edges of the bottom with chalkboard paint & let dry (I had some metal paint in black on hand from another project, so I used it instead of the chalkboard paint... a.k.a. a crafting staple for me... on the bottom of the tray)

lightly sand the entire surface

spray a second even coat of the chalkboard paint on the top, sides, and the edges of the bottom & let dry

spray one last thin coat of chalkboard paint on the top

Create the “pillow”

Cut a piece of your fabric 4” bigger than the bottom of your cookie sheet. My cookie sheet is 9x13, I added 4” to each measurement & cut a 13x17 rectangle of fabric.

Cut a 2.5” square out of each corner of the rectangle.

Match the right sides of each corner and sew to create the bottom and sides of a box shape. I made a little video for you of that piece:

Press the raw edges down a half inch

Measure the opening “top” part of your box from corner to corner and cut your foam core/matt board to that measurement. I had a plastic placemat on hand that had seen better days, so I recycled it for this step of the project.

Hot glue the half inch edge you pressed all around the board, leaving an opening in one of the long sides.

Fill the pillow (now with the hard top of the “box” hot glued on) with dry beans. I like beans best because they make the pillow conform to your lap which is key to getting a level surface.

Hot glue the opening you filled the pillow through closed.

Attach the pillow to the top

Depending on what material you used for the top of the pillow, choose an industrial strength glue to adhere it to the under side of the cookie sheet. Gorilla glue and E6000 are good options for lots of materials.

so the chalk "markers" didn't work so well... I almost had a panic attack when I couldn't erase them... I suggest sticking with plain ol' chalk!

Check back to see more of the projects I have planned for our road trip this summer!

About Me

Stacey is a business analyst by day and blogger/seamster/ crafter/party planner/aspiring Super Mom by night & weekends. When she's not solving fortune 500 companies system and process problems she's making whatever inspires her at the moment. Her uber supportive husband, Doug, and adorable daughters, Elle & Liv, are her motivation, inspiration, and sense of accomplishment.